WITH the League now in the rearview, Antrim’s footballers have had little time to reflect as attention swiftly turns to Saturday’s Ulster quarter-final against Down in Newry.

In February, the Ulster neighbours met at Corrigan Park when they both entered the game with two wins from two, but Conor Laverty’s side pulled away in the second half to win by nine and they continued that momentum to secure promotion while Antrim would lose their next three and needed to see off Wicklow a fortnight back to ensure they didn’t face relegation.

That game in Belfast was far from the thriller the teams served up in Pairc Esler 12 months before when Down stunned the Saffrons at the death.

This time the Mournemen were too strong and although they will be favourites when they rematch next weekend, Antrim joint-captain Dermot McAleese insists he and his teammates won’t feel unduly daunted.

“Down last year was a brilliant game to watch,” he agreed.

“We played some great football but ended up on the losing side. This year, we played poorly against them in the second half, but for 40 minutes we kept them at bay and just faded away. We will take some positives from it as we were a lot more solid at the back.

“Down is probably the form team in the country at the minute after Derry and Dublin. They’ve come on a lot since last year and we saw that at Corrigan.

“We know we will be massive underdogs, but if we can put our best foot forward, we know we won’t be far away.”

Remaining in Division Three was the minimum requirement for the League as relegation would have been a huge setback.

It’s true that a lengthy injury list hampered Antrim’s campaign, but as the dust settles, it was productive and now they will look to the challenges of Championship football.

“The League stared off very positive and we were probably in a good position to push on and make a promotion challenge, but a couple of below-par performances took the sting out of it,” the Portglenone man reflected.

“With a long injury list, we have to take it (staying up) and finishing middle of the table is probably a fair reflection. We just draw a line under it as there’s still a lot of football to be played, but we achieved one of our goals for the season.”

McAleese has soldiered in the saffron jersey for a decade and has had more downs than ups, battling back from an array of injuries.

Having served under a number of different managers, he had been utilised in a number of roles with varying playing styles, but is certainly enjoying the approach brought by manager Andy McEntee whose philosophy is to play at pace and get on the front foot as often as possible.

“It’s an exciting brand of football he likes to play,” he opined.

“It takes a lot of legs and fitness, but that suits the type of player we have as we have a lot of legs in the team.

“It’s not that boring brand of football where you are sitting in to keep the score down.

“We want to attack teams where everyone goes forward and everyone defends, so that’s an exciting brand of football to play.

“Last year were a wee bit too open at the back and that’s something we have improved over the past year.

“We aren’t leaking as much at the back, so it’s about trying to find that balance.”